


Evolutionary Ladder

by trascendenza



Category: Heroes - Fandom
Genre: Episode: s02e04 The Kindness of Strangers, M/M, doppelshipping, layers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-10-03
Updated: 2007-10-03
Packaged: 2017-10-07 03:09:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trascendenza/pseuds/trascendenza
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>The face of the watch is shattered, splintered, pathetic.  Less than.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	Evolutionary Ladder

_I am not your bottom rung,_ he tries to scream, but his voice is muffled, trickled to a whimper.

_I never said you were,_ Sylar says reasonably, patting him on the cheek with a patronizing smile.

Gabriel would love to bite the hand off right at its source, gnaw through flesh and bone until it was severed, nothing but a powerless stump left in its place.

The worst part is that Sylar would let him. Would _encourage_ him, would love to see him lose control like that.

He refuses to give Sylar the satisfaction.

*

_We're meant for more than this, Gabriel, so much more. Don't you see? If you'll let me, I can take us there._

Gabriel's chest heaves, and he feels his heart clench painfully. It would be so easy to believe, to give in.

_No,_ he hisses, raising his head and looking directly into the eyes that are broken reflection of his own. _No._

*

_You're deluding yourself if you think you can resist me,_ Sylar says, caressing his index finger up Gabriel's neck. _It's futility. You're exhausting us both._

Gabriel smiles; it cracks with blood at the edges. And then he begins to laugh, deep and choking, gasping with the sharp stabs to his gut.

How could he have missed it?

_You need me,_ he says, craning forward so that he's in breathing distance of Sylar. _Why else would you keep me here?_

Sylar's slap is swift and nearly snaps his head off his neck, but all he can do is laugh, because more than anything, Sylar's anger is incredibly telling.

*

Once Gabriel understands his place—understands that without _him_, there would be no Sylar—the control erodes. He goes from being a captive to a valued prisoner, and learns the points where he has the advantage in the battle.

_Without me, you can't take what is rightfully ours,_ he purrs in Sylar's ear as Sylar stands over Candice's fallen body.

Sylar's enraged roar shakes everything, a sweeping wave of red: his world crumbles from the inside out. Walls that held him, that maintained separation and distinction, fall.

He blinks as the light pricks his eyes. He touches his fingers to his eyelids—

They're real.

*

The face of the watch is shattered, splintered, pathetic. Less than.

Like he used to be.

_I am your next step, Gabriel. Evolution is inexorable._ Sylar is tempting as ever, sickly sweet, dripping confidence.

Gabriel hates him.

Grinning, he hefts the brick, power thrumming in his joints.

He agrees: evolution is inexorable. But it is _his_ to control, this time.

"I'm not your bottom rung," he hisses as Derek's blood stains the tips of his fingers. "Not anymore."


End file.
